We live in an age—of technology and science that demands proof—and yet,
we desire mystery. But when God gives us mystery, we seek to destroy it by gross
indifference or childish reasoning.

We take pride in our advances in technology and in the fact that we found the
invisible power called "atomic energy"—energy that can heal,
destroy, renew and rebuild. Yet, we deny Angelic Spirits who are also invisible
powers who can destroy, heal and renew.

We take pride in geniuses sprinkled here and there and yet deny multitudes of
intelligences that stagger the human mind.

We acknowledge evil in the world and man's inability to cope with it and yet,
we deny evil spirits who harass man in an effort to destroy him.

We realize God is infinite and limitless and yet, we limit His creative
powers to the visible world and its inhabitants. We take pride in the fact that
we face reality and tell it like it is, and then we spend thousands of dollars
on tranquilizers in an effort to forget reality.

We find anything that concerns the other world below the level of our
intelligence and yet—we watch programs and read books dealing with E.S.P. and
occultism.

We watch with great interest as science delves into mental telepathy and mind
reading and yet, we consider a mental conversation with God or our Angel as wild
imaginings and day dreams.

We are full of contradictions and seem willing to accept anything as long as
it is within the realm of our comprehension—and yet, our hearts and minds
yearn for the invisible reality that pride puts beyond our reach—the reality
that only faith and humility can grasp or comprehend.

How true is the saying that to those who believe no explanation is necessary
and to those who do not, no explanation is possible.

St. Paul told a crowd one day that he was being persecuted because he
believed in Angels and the Resurrection—so let us look at these creatures of
God that Paul believed in, so that we too may believe. (Acts. 23:6-11)

The Beginning

Scripture tells us in the Book of Genesis that in the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.

The earth was a formless void—nothing. It is difficult to understand
nothingness. In our existence everything we see is something; even darkness—that
absence of light—is something.

Though it may be difficult, it may nonetheless be necessary to go back to
God's timeless existence—Eternity—and see God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
ever together, ever alone.

His Infinite Goodness desired to share His happiness with others, not because
it would add anything to His happiness but just because He is Goodness itself.

And so—God decided to create beings who were like Himself—pure Spirits.

He merely Willed and they existed—numberless Spirits of varying degrees of
intelligence—beings who were finite, but far above anything the mind can
understand.

These pure spirits are intelligent, strong and enlightened, and yet each
spirit is different. Just as human minds differ in intelligence, so the pure
spirits—pure intelligences—are different.

Some are filled with love and a knowledge of the mysteries of God and some
radiate different facets of the Trinity. Each one, in each class, partakes of
the light of God in a different way.

Star differs from star and so spirit differs from spirit. Spirits ever soar
toward God, without effort or fatigue. They never tire or feel hungry or are
hampered by all the limitations incumbent on human beings.

Would creatures most like God, fully aware of their gifts, talents, beauty
and power, bow before their Creator as Lord? Or would they become infatuated
with themselves and refuse?

Spirits of such a superior nature would have to have a test equal to their
nature. "To whom much is given, much will be required," and the test
would be one in which they would have to choose between themselves and God—pride
versus humility—truth versus lies.

The Battle

Each Angel that God created was in himself a masterpiece. Each one possessed
his own degree of intelligence and his own beauty. From the first moment of
their creation, the Angels possessed infused knowledge, given to them without
any effort on their part. This knowledge was complete and entire from the first
moment it was received.

They were created mature and immortal intelligences, unhampered by age, time
or seasons. Their mode of travel and communication was as swift as thought and
without fatigue.

What kind of test would these exalted creatures be given? We can only surmise
the nature of this test from the twelfth Chapter of Revelations. There is enough
written in this Chapter to enable us to piece together the mystery of this test.

To God all things are present; there is no past or future—it is all now.
Before He created man or angels, He knew the consequences that would follow—He
knew that when man offended God, only God could make suitable reparation. Man's
inferior nature would glorify God's Mercy for all eternity.

Before God announced His future plans it would seem that some of the angels
had begun to weaken. The sin of pride is a gradual thing—a slow process of
deterioration that is hardly noticed until it is too late.

Perhaps some of the Angels began to look at themselves and concentrate on
their own beauty and grace so much so that they slowly were spending more time
thinking of themselves than God. They may have begun to attribute their
knowledge to their own ability and talents, oblivious of God's gifts to them.

Then came the staggering proclamation from the Most High: the Second Person
of the Most Holy Trinity would become Man and, as the God-Man, be their superior—their
Lord and King!

This however was not all of the test: the God-Man would have a Mother—a
Woman—and she too would be raised above them!

Like a flash of lightning, Lucifer the greatest of all Angels, the one most
like the Most High, the one called "Angel of Light"—cried out with a
voice of thunder, "I will not serve!" Other Angels of every class and
degree of intelligence all cried out together, "We will not serve!"

Then began the battle between pride and humility. Michael rose above all the
others and thundered, "Who is like God!" The battle they fought was
not one of swords—swords that make one bleed and die. No, it was a more deadly
battle—a battle of intellects, of wills, of ideas and loyalties.

The result of such a battle is irrevocable—for whichever side a spirit
would choose it would be an eternal decision. He knew only too well the
consequences of his choice. If he chose God, he would be in God's Presence
forever; if he chose himself, separated from the only source of Goodness and
Light, he would be in darkness, wrapped in his own misery forever.

Each Angel would have full light as to the test and its consequences.

They began to fight for their own opinions, their own rights and their own
loyalties—each making a choice that would set his will forever.

As the debate raged on Lucifer became more adamant. It was not fair for the
Word to take on human nature and continue being Lord. Human nature was gross and
inferior and the Most High had no right to make such an unjust decree. If the
Word became man, all mankind would have the opportunity to become sons of God.
Was not Lucifer the greatest of all Angels? Was not his intellect superior to
them all? Yes, he, Lucifer, would be Lord and King of Angels and Men.

He would not bow before an Incarnate Word; neither would he accept a Woman,
the Mother of the Incarnate Word, as Queen of Heaven.

The blow of all blows would be the fact that since the Word would become
flesh, all mankind would have the opportunity to arrive at great heights of
sanctity—heights above some of the Angels themselves. Yes, they would become
brothers because they would share the same Father.

Lucifer and his cohorts would not accept such a humiliation. It was unjust!
They were the fruits of the first hour of God's creative powers. They would not
share these fruits with those who came at the eleventh hour!

Michael rose to the defense of God: God alone is Holy he reasoned; God alone
is Lord; God alone is Most High; He does as He pleases. Was Lucifer jealous
because God chose to be beneficent to those who came last—those whose
intellects were inferior to the angelic nature?

Was it not more important that God be glorified than that they as pure
spirits be glorified? Was it not God's privilege to give as He willed since all
Goodness came from Him alone? They were all brought out of nothingness and they
owed God eternal thanksgiving for the least amount of grace and glory.

No, it was not a humiliation—it was a truth and to those who cling to truth
there would be no humiliation. Would it not magnify the Mercy of the Lord to
raise up human beings to the dignity of sons of God by allowing His own Son to
become one of them?

As the battle raged, Angels from the different choirs began to take sides—some
agreeing with Michael, others with Lucifer. Lucifer's arguments were very
convincing and he "dragged a third of the stars from the heavens" with
him. (Apoc. 12:4)

The longer the battle went on, the more entrenched each side became until
finally Lucifer said, "I will set my throne above the Most High." (Is.
14:13) At this final blasphemy Michael cried out, "Who is like God! Victory
and power and empire forever have been won by our God and all authority for His
Christ." (Apoc. 12:10) Jesus Himself tells us what happened next, for one
day when the Apostles became inflated with their own powers, it brought back to
His memory the scene that ended the battle in heaven. He looked at them and
said, "I watched Satan fall like lightning from Heaven." (Luke 10:18)

The Angel of Light became Satan—the Angel of Darkness. His pride was a lie
and the Son of God was one day to tell those who followed Satan: "The devil
is your father, and you prefer to do what your father wants. He was a murderer
from the start; he was never grounded in truth; there is no truth in him at all;
when he lies he is drawing from his own store because he is a liar and the
father of lies." (John 8:44) Pride was born and hell came into existence
when these spirits set their wills against God forever. They would always be on
fire with jealousy, anger, hatred and pride and the fire would reach out to burn
others with its sparks of hatred—forever burning with what they considered an
injustice on the part of God.

Michael and the other spirits who rallied to the cause of truth and the glory
of the Most High entered into the Beatific Vision. They saw the One they had
fought for with such courage, for their wills were forever set on God—forever
happy, forever at peace. They all sang together, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the
Lord God, the Almighty: He was, He is, and He is to come." (Apoc. 4:8)

Friends And Companions

From the moment of his fall, the Angel of Darkness stalked the earth looking
for the Son of the Woman. He must have thought he had conquered when he
successfully instilled pride and rebellion into Adam and Eve. What was his
surprise when God had mercy on them and once again reminded him of the Woman and
her seed. His hatred for God forced him to seek the destruction of all the souls
destined to enjoy the glory of Heaven that he had lost.

Though he fell, he still retained his high degree of intelligence and all the
powers that were natural to his nature, so he would tempt, deceive and harass
mankind and thus deprive God of glory for all eternity.

God, in His Infinite Goodness, would not pair us up in an uneven battle. No,
it would be like a child debating with Einstein. In His Infinite Mercy and
Justice, God would be obliged to give each one of us an angel—an angel who
would be equal in every way to the spirit of evil ever working for our defeat.

This Angel would have to be our very own because, as Peter said in his
Epistle, "the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking someone to
devour." Yes, we would need one of the glorious spirits to fight many an
invisible battle for the possession of our souls—battles that are as real as
the air we breathe and just as invisible.

Did Jesus reveal these guardians to us? We know that one day He told His
Disciples that unless they became as little children they would not enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, they must possess the simplicity and candor
of a child to belong to Him. (Luke 18:1-4)

In fact He said that unless they did possess these qualities they would not
enter the Kingdom at all. With this in mind, He continued His discourse by
saying, "See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell
you that their Angels in Heaven are continually in the Presence of My Father in
Heaven." (Matt 18:10)

Prayer

St. Michael and all you holy Angels, protect us from the snares of the evil
spirits. Instill into our minds thoughts of repentance and love and obtain for
us from the Throne of the Most High the Gifts of the Spirit and a bright
reflection of Jesus in our souls.